Author: sgsteven

Presumed web credibility: “Based on general assumptions in the user’s mind”

By searching through the Google Scholar database, the results returned also include citations in other works. This specific article is an example of presumed web credibility due to the fact that it has been cited 8,434 times.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia features this on the home page of their website, talking up their Mirage ES model. By including the 5 star ANCAP safety rating and the two awards it has won, their audience may be more likely to purchase this car.

Surface web credibility: “Based on simple inspection, first impressions”
Alienware gaming PCs are renowned among gaming and computing enthusiasts for their capabilities and performance. To anyone that has basic knowledge of computers, reading on the specs of these computers may provide credibility that Alienware mean business.

Earned web credibility: “Based on firsthand experience that extends over time”
Government sites are websites that are expected to post accurate and relevant information and are conveyed as credible even before a user visits the site. Information and news may be subjective to highlight positivity, but nevertheless, they are perceived as credible by its nation and by other nations simply due to its authority.

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia with millions of pages on an array of topics, contributed and edited by the public. Although it appears scholarly and does provide numerous articles written and edited by reputable authors, there are also many articles that are not, as well as the fact that these articles are easily edited.

This factor is what pushes it out of the realms of trustworthiness and expertise within credibility. Although Wikipedia is a good starting place for research, its information is not highly and oftenly reviewed and moderated by experts (“What’s Wrong with Wikipedia?”, n.d.).

The fact that Wikipedia’s articles are so easily edited has become a highlight of its history, with multiple stories emerging of users adding false information without it being picked up for months, sometimes years later.

Wikipedia is best used to grasp ideas and concepts, but not facts. Students are best off using the sources cited and measuring their individual credibility, rather than Wikipedia itself.

B. J. Fogg, in his chapter ‘Credibility and the World Wide Web’, discusses the perceptions of credibility in online resources as a blend of trustworthiness and expertise, and how the two either go hand in hand or don’t work together at all.

In a study conducted by Stanford Web Credibility Studies of over 6000 people, findings concluded that credibility suffers in four specific ways.

The first way is a blurred line between ads and page content. The second being links from one credible page to a page that lacks credibility. Third, advertisements and pop-up windows. The final way is a mismatch between domain name and company name.

Julia Schwarz and Meredith Ringel Morris state that almost everyone is at fault for accessing and trusting non-credible websites, ranging from school-age children to educated adults (2011).

Online reading has impacted credibility in a sense that it has changed the definition of literacy to include online skills, such as measuring credibility (Leu & Zawilinski, 2007).

Credibility can be linked to two aspects, trustworthiness and expertise. To a student, these are two very important factors, and can be the difference between marks. When making an argument, it is important that the information is backed up and supported by research, otherwise the argument is nullified by the fact that there is no evidence. The source of this information must be reputable, through knowledge and experience in the field.

Google is a key product that represents performance load. The world’s biggest and largest search engine and database contains millions and millions of pages, yet it is very simple to use. The site features programs and tools such as web crawlers, truncation and page ranking among thousands of others that simplify usage, which creates user centered design. The mass reduction in performance load means users will reach their desired destinations much quicker with minimal effort.

TuneGlue is a music map that assists its users in discovering musicians, artists and bands of similar sounds or genres to the artist they entered. This website is powered by Amazon and Last.fm who themselves have large databases of music, functioning as reliable sources when providing its results. TuneGlue is similar to a search engine and somewhat functions similar to page ranking, giving results based on relativity.

Telegraphy is a form of long distance communication that was constructed in the 19th century that replaced railroads and long distance trips, which resulted in news travelling much quicker and information being more widely accessible. From telegraphy formed radio, television and ultimately the internet, as new technologies were produced as a result. The reduction of performance load created a demand for delay to also be reduced, as the public wanted information as quick as possible, and so this design became the start of a revolution of simplicity and reduced effort.

Design is only necessary because of the way the human mind reacts to it. The brain generates feelings and emotions that are represented by the person in various ways, and it is these reactions that gauge how successful or unsuccessful a design is.

Anna Richardson Taylor explains in her article that psychology and design are closely linked, and to have a successful design, one must have knowledge and understanding of psychology (2013).

Designs are things that users visualise and interact with. Human eyes and brains are sensitive to perceptions, and can create imagery out of the placement of elements, such as in Gestalt’s Theory (Humphrey, 1924).

Knowledge of psychology is necessary because that is how designs are interpreted and how these designs are reacted to. Users are interested or uninterested in designs due to their appeal and relation to that user, and so to capture the attention of the audience, the design must contain elements that will do this.

Chunking is a learning strategy where large information and data is deconstructed and broken down to its foundations, which allows the information to be remembered much easier, assisting the short term memory.

The brain can only hold so much information at once, and when more information enters the brain, it will most likely be forgotten (Malamed, 2009).

Chunking is a useful strategy that allows the brain the memorise more information at once, while not overloading or exceeding its limits. Although chunking is a positive learning factor, it is commonly misused and mistreated in design, where too much information and data is grouped together, forcing the user to go back and forth between pages (Harrod, 2008).

This creates unnecessary effort to find information that should simply be placed right in front of them, as misuse of chunking can sometimes eliminate information.